Brexit: MedTech Europe takes part in joint meeting on prioritising patient safety and public health

Posted on 05.03.2018

On 21 February 2018, a Coalition of Brussels based health stakeholders, including patients, hospitals, researchers, pharma and medtech industry, held a joint meeting to discuss how to prioritise patient safety and public health in the Article 50 negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the UK.

In particular, during the event, each speaker posed three questions of importance which would need resolving in the negotiations. Questions include: how will the EU and the UK ensure there is no race to the bottom on public health protections; how to secure regulatory alignment and seamless trade between the EU and UK to avoid disruptions in the manufacturing and supply of medicines and medical technologies; how will the MRHA’s workload be redistributed to avoid undue delay.

The seminar was well attended by policy maker, member state and stakeholder representatives who engaged in a lively and fruitful discussion. MEP Rory Palmer (S&D, UK) made the closing remarks offering his perspective on Brexit and the need for a constructive dialogue between the EU and the UK for the benefit of patients.